report in The News, Nov 10, 2020RAWALPINDI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Ameer Senator Sirajul Haq has said there is hardly a difference between the ideology and narrative of the PTI and the PDM as both are representatives of the status quo and work for self-centred agendas. Addressing a JI joining ceremony by local politicians in Kahuta on Monday, he said the major parties, which are part of the Pakistan Democratic Movement, remained in power for years but…
Posts published in “Pak Media comment”
Editorial in Pakistan Today, Nov 10, 2020Yesterday, after a detention of eight months, Editor Jung/Geo group Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman was released on bail by the Supreme Court following a rejection of his plea by the Lahore High Court earlier. The charges against him have been framed by NAB and are related to purchase of a property “illegally” 34 years ago when Mian Nawaz Sharif was Chief Minister of Punjab. If the SC proceedings are anything to…
EDITORIAL: Jahangir Tareen’s return to the country from London after an absence of five months has tickled the speculative nerve of our commentariat. Although Tareen told media on his return that he had been in London for medical treatment, the circumstances surrounding his departure suggest other reasons. Tareen left Pakistan for London soon after the sugar inquiry commission report was made public in June 2020 that revealed the names of different players in the sugar…
by Abbas Nasir in Dawn, November 8th, 2020The writer is a former editor of Dawn.HICCUPS are integral to political alliances because while coalescing parties agree to a common minimum programme, they are also keen to maintain their distinct identities. If there is no deviation from the agreed principles, the alliance stays intact. Equally, the maturity of leaders will often dictate the fate of such groupings, as parties continue to propagate their individual policies on issues…
by Asad Rahim Khan in Dawn, November 8th, 2020The writer is a barrister.IT wasn’t hard to figure out Awais Noorani at the latest PDM rally in Quetta. Heir to his father’s Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (JUP), Mr Noorani went for broke, and called for Balochistan to part from the rest of the country. The JUP currently boasts a population of zero in the assembly (it was most relevant when it was torching Lahore in 1953). For the…
Police brutality and undue use of force are terrible occurrences everywhere around the world and need to be immediately investigated in order to preserve the integrity of law and order. The stakes become even higher when undue force by officials is applied during a protest—it threatens both the right to life and right to protest. Law enforcement officials are meant to protect peaceful protestors, not put their lives at risk. That is why the recent…
by Benazir Jatoi in TNS, Nov 8, 2020The writer is a barristerIf it is determined that Arzoo is in fact a child, whether she gave consent to marry becomes irrelevant. In fact, her being a child brings forward further violations The vulnerability and helplessness of religious minorities is on display yet again. This time it is through Arzoo Raja, a Pakistani Christian girl, 13 years old according to her parents, who they says has been…
The Prime Minister’s lunch with the allies of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government, an event intended as a show of power to the rival opposition group Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), had some interesting takeaways that might become relevant in the upcoming weeks. However, the event, which could have had more promise, did not have the impact the government wanted to. One of the important factors was the Prime Minister’s statement, that the PTI government wanted…
At a time when the opposition is already out on the streets and is continuing its protest rallies and meetings across the country, the PTI government is also facing apparent problems from its own allies. This is especially true of the PML-Q, a party that is vital to holding up the PTI-led government in Punjab and is also important in the centre. The party has said that it has no intention of trying to force…
More than four months back – on June 29 to be exact – the Prime Minister had thrown a dinner party in the honour of his disgruntled coalition partners at his Banigala residence. It came days before the Finance Bill was to be tabled in the National Assembly for the passage of the federal budget 2020-21. Pretty obviously, the objective of the gathering was to seek support from more than half a dozen government-allied parties…
Withdrawal before Christmas: op-ed by Iftekhar A Khan in The News, Nov 10, 2020
The writer is a freelance columnist based in Lahore.Whenever the peace talks to end the decades-old war in Afghanistan appear close to fruition, a terrorist act takes place to shatter any hope for a reliable ceasefire. Kabul University was targeted some days ago and 22 people lost their lives. It happened at a time when outgoing US President Donald Trump wants the US troops home by Christmas. The US has already spent more than $2…